This invention relates generally to a method and tool for breaking glass fibers and, more particularly, to a method and tool for breaking glass fibers in a bundle of fibers to produce a uniform end break.
In fiber optic transmission systems it is necessary to provide connections or splices between the ends of aligned fiber optic bundles. Normally, the end of each bundle is terminated in a hollow contact or pin, and the end of the pin with the fibers therein is polished to provide a smooth end surface. The polished ends of the bundles are abutted together in the interconnection or splicing arrangement. If the bundle ends are not smooth, light transmission losses will occur in the fiber optic transmission system. Normally, the polishing of a glass fiber bundle in a pin is accomplished by the use of standard metallurgical polishing equipment which includes a rotating polishing disc with water flowing over it to cool and lubricate the surface being polished. Typically, a tool is used for holding and shifting the fiber bundle end into engagement with the rotating disc. The polishing procedure is time-consuming. Frequently a number of polishing discs are required to obtain a highly polished end on a glass fiber bundle. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that polishing equipment of the foregoing type is not normally available in the field where breakage of fiber bundles may occur requiring splicing and therefore polishing of the fiber bundle ends. Certainly polishing by hand in the field is time-consuming and quite inconvenient. Therefore, what is needed is some means for providing a polished end surface for a glass fiber bundle without requiring the use of polishing equipment so that splices or modifications of fiber bundle terminations may be effected in the field as well as in the factory.
It is well known in the glass art that glass fibers can be provided with extremely smooth end surfaces by simply producing a scratch on the fiber and breaking it over a fulcrum obtaining a clean fracture. However, a clean break cannot be provided on the end of a glass fiber bundle utilizing this technique since obviously the interior fibers in the bundle would not be scratched and breaking thereof would produce nonuniform, rough fractures. While it may be possible to provide clean fractures of all the fibers in the bundle by laying the fibers out in a single plane and scratching the surfaces of the fibers utilizing a straight guide laying across the fibers, it will be appreciated that when the fibers are returned to their cylindrical bundle configuration after fracturing, the lengths of the fibers will not be uniform. Thus, polishing of the bundle end would still be required. It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a method and tool for uniformly breaking the ends of the fibers in a glass fiber bundle so that little, if any, polishing of the bundle end is required.